Sharonda Taylor, Doug Stoffer, Rob Taylor prepare for the shoot.

Doug and his holographic portrait.

Brown County Images

From the Forth Dimension

If Brown County photographer and journalist Frank Hohenberger were alive today he would probably be hanging out at the Forth Dimension studio, capturing the images of county folks on holographic plates. He would no doubt be just as excited about the new camera technology as the owners Rob and Sharonda Taylor.

"We're basically right now at a stage where we're trying to get the word out. We've got this incredible new technology, this new wave of imaging which we really believe is the next step or the next evolution of photography," explains Rob. "This is truly archival recording. Not only is it three-dimensional imaging, which is amazing in and of itself, but it is also recording at a basically atomic level. We're actually recording interference patterns between wavelengths of light which is extremely, extremely small."

The holographic silver halide emulsion process is similar to conventional photography but has a resolving power of 5000 lines per millimeter and is geared for laser light recordings. The resolution is so fine that you could put a microscope on the surface and see crude forms of bacteria. There is no enlarging or reducing. There is no retouching.

These monochrome holograms should last two or three hundred years with moderate care. Portraits will be admired by not only by the subjects' children, but their children's children.

Doug Stoffer, local jeweler and long-time Brown County resident, sat for his holographic portrait. I watched as Rob and Shronda prepared the shoot in their spotless studio, checking settings of laser light patterns, temperatures and distances. Rob positioned Doug, then the lasers flashed for just 20 billionths of a second to record the image. A print was developed from the master later that day.

Forth Dimension has the only camera of this type in the entire United States. There is a similar camera in San Francisco but the print production process takes a couple of weeks and the cost is four times greater.

Rob was introduced to this camera technology at an international symposium of display holography in Lake Forest, Illinois. A Lithuanian company of former Russian scientists, General Optics Laboratory (Geola), presented a paper on the camera's prototype. Rob bought every sample hologram from their exhibit.

Excited about the prospect of acquiring such a device, the Taylors surveyed 400 of their shop's customers to determine the marketability of holographic portraits. They were so encouraged by the responses that Rob traveled to Lithuania to see the camera in action.

One year later Taylor returned to Lithuania and brought a laser engineer with him to evaluate the camera's safety standards and maintenance requirements. The engineer approved the system giving Rob the green light to secure a small business loan for the purchase of his own camera. After hurdling many Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Custom import obstacles, he signed a contract in March of 1999.

In September nearly a ton of camera equipment arrived by air in seven shock-secure crates. Friend and fellow shop owner Jim Lawrence helped Rob pick up the gear in a big U-Hall truck. The Russians from Geola stayed here for two weeks assembling the camera and training Rob.

"I'm not any physics Ph.D. or anything. I know a little about laser electro-optics. I basically happened to be in the right place at the right time as far as a technology becoming prevalent enough and user friendly enough for someone to take it from a research and development standpoint over to a marketability and commercial standpoint."

Since September he has taken 30 portraits, about a dozen for hire, some of his family, and a commercial hologram for Paul Newman's popcorn. Some top-secret celebrity shoots are in the works.

Rob hopes to archive more familiar faces of today's Brown County--the long-time residents, the artists and the natives. He would like to see the portraits hanging on the walls of other local businesses as Doug Stoffer's portrait now hangs at Grasshopper Flats. Portraits of locals "Pods" Miller and Jim Lawson can be seen at Forth Dimension's museum. Anyone interested in sponsoring and displaying a portrait of a Brown County familiar face should contact the Taylors.

Rob also plans to build a stock photography library of nature scenes. He envisions the likeness of a hummingbird in mid-flight or baby raccoons in a hollow log. He'd like to be able to setup a scene with some morel mushrooms--his own if he is lucky this year. If you have some critters or some other slice of nature you think would make a great scene, bring them in.

The Taylors couldn't be prouder of this new technology and would be happy to show you their studio and museum. Their shop, studio and museum are located at 90 West Washington in Nashville in the former John Dillinger Museum building. Their web site is
http://users.aol.com/hologram4d and their phone number is 812-988-8212.